Updates On Our Homestead

Since we moved 2 months ago, we've been very busy.  You might remember we moved into the house hubby grew up in, the house my father~in~law built almost 45 years ago.  While the house is in good shape, it has not been updated since it was built.  We have been busy painting, carpeting, ripping out overgrown shrubs, transplanting flowers and plants, and starting a garden~just to name a few things.

the kitchen wallpaper

after we removed the wallpaper and painted the kitchen

 

hubby creating a garden for me

 

there was not only wallpaper on this wall, but also a {almost} full wall landscape mural papered on it.  While the wallpaper came off fairly easy, this mural did not!

our little ones like to pitch in, too! 

I love this picture~helping out daddy

 

life isn't all work, though!  We do get to enjoy our yard and home, too!

 

 

 

This weekend we are ripping off an OLD solar panel unit off the house.  We {think} that mice are getting in our basement through the old venting.  Another joy of country living~rodents!  Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

The Breakfast Of Champions?

We have something going on in our house I am calling the great cereal debate.  I have a love/hate relationship with cereal.

It's an easy breakfast for the kids.
BUT...
It is full of things they really don't need to be putting in their bodies.

It's something all of my kids can agree on.
BUT...
It's costly as our family can easily eat a box or more in one morning depending on the size of the box.

It's yummy! {I must admit, even I love cereal!}
BUT...
So is cheesecake~that doesn't make it a good choice for breakfast!

I've been in this cereal debate for some time now.  I make the announcement that ALL cereal will be banished from the house from this point forward.  I get children complaining that they will never get to enjoy breakfast again!  I try it for a couple of weeks, then cave and go back to the cereal again.  Because it's easy.  Because I'm tired of the complaining.  Because I just don't want to deal with it anymore.  Then start the process all over again! 

I wanted to find some new breakfast foods that are easy to make and healthy.  We have a few kiddo's who don't like oatmeal, and one who doesn't care for eggs too often.  I like to make breakfast foods for an easy lunch, so pancakes, waffles, French toast, and even scrambled eggs get made sometimes for lunches.  So I've hit the web trying to find some healthy alternatives.

One of the best sites I've found is Heavenly Homemakers.  She has tons of recipes that are made with real food!  This is something I have been looking into for a while and would love for my family.  She has a cookbook I think I'm going get.   Anyway~a  few of the recipes I've tried or want to try are...

Breakfast Cake Muffins

 

 

Baked Oatmeal Cups

 {these are absolutely delicious!}

 

Pancake and Sausage muffins

 

POPTARTS!! 

{Our kids love poptarts, but have you read the label?}

 

A few other recipe's I have found on other websites and want to try

 

 

Quick Chocolate Oatmeal With Flax Seed

 

 

Raw Apple Cereal

 

 



I'm finding that there are lots of alternatives out there to boxed cereal.  Many of these things I could make ahead of time and freeze, therefore making them an easy, quick breakfast.  I love that idea!

 

Taste and see that the Lord is good;
    blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8

 

I'd love to know what you make for breakfast for your family!

 

Blessings,

Weight Loss Wednesday~FOOD

I am addicted to Reese's peanut butter cups.  There I said it.  They say the first step to recognizing you have a problem is to admit it.  Well...I'm finally admitting it.

Losing weight would be so much easier if it weren't for one thing.  EATING!  The majority of my weight gain over the years has simply come from eating too much.  I eat when I am stressed.  I eat when I am bored.  I eat when I am sad.  I eat when I'm happy.  I'm eating too often, too much, and too poorly.

I need to look at food differently.

So, this week I've made a few changes to how and what I eat.  I used Weight Watchers in the past, and still had my materials.  I am sure it is way out of date now {it's almost 10 years old!}, but I figured if it worked back then, it would still work now.  This helps me watch how much I eat during a day.

I am also watching what I eat during a day.  I've added much more fruits and vegetables to our diets.  I've added more whole grains to our diets.  I haven't had one peanut butter cup this week!  {Those who know me well {my family!} will know how huge this is!}  Instead of mindlessly putting things in my mouth, I'm thinking about these choices before I eat them.  I am hoping this will become a life long habit.

I'm giving myself grace.  This past weekend, we had a birthday party for my grandpa on Sunday, and on Monday we attended a pancake breakfast and had a cookout for dinner.  It is very difficult to stick to a diet at these activities.  However, I did watch my portions and ate less than I would normally have.  I know that there will be days like this, and I'm trying not to get too worked up about it.  I do still love to eat after all!

I have also stopped eating after dinner.  This is a problem area in our life.  Ever since our first kiddo's were small, we've enjoyed a treat after they went to bed.  It is usually ice cream {moose tracks with what else...peanut butter cups!!  Yummy!}.  Now that our older kiddo's are older, they have joined us in this habit after the smaller kiddo's go to bed.  I now realize the mistake in this habit, and fear breaking it for the rest of the family may be a bigger hurdle than I would like to jump.

Soooo true!!

So...how'd I do this week?

My Results:

Weight loss this week~ 4 pounds

Total weight loss~  4 pounds

Amount left to get to goal~36 pounds

Although I am excited about losing 4 pounds in one week, let me just say that I know this was water weight.  I retain water at this time every year.  My rings and my shoes fit much better now, and I can see the difference in my ankles.  Oh yeah, and my watch is not so tight on my wrist.  Because I was hoping to loose weight in my wrist and not my hips!!

How did you do this week?

Blessings,

What I'd Miss If We Didn't Have Dinner Together

Eating dinner together has always been a priority in our family.  When our kids were smaller, it was just something we did.  As our older kiddo's grew, it became something we purposely did.  Now all our kids know that it is just expected that we will all be at dinner together.  Now that we have a couple of teenagers, there are days when we are missing a child or two.  But this is the exception and not the rule.

This is our time to connect as a family.  Hubby works from 7:30AM-5:00PM, so he is away from the home most of the day.   Dinner is the time when all the kiddo's get to sit down with Daddy and talk with him.  If we didn't have dinner together, we'd miss some opportunities for good communication.

We get to hear some pretty funny stories during dinner time.  We would miss this time if we didn't spend dinners together.  The silliness is usually from our youngest 2 children,  and sometimes we can't believe the things they come up with. 

We find out things we never knew about.  This is usually from our oldest 2 children.  We've found that they will admit things~especially things they may have done when they were younger~or freely talk about things we never knew about.  For instance we recently found out about some mischief on Stinkerbelle's part when she was about 6 years old.  We would miss out on these opportunities if we didn't have meals together.

We get to meet people we may not have the opportunity to meet otherwise.  Since our older kiddo's know that family dinners are important, they are more likely to invite a friend over for dinner if they want to spend time with that person.  There's always room at our dinner table for more.  We've had great discussions with many kids {who were not ours!} at our dinner table.  We would have probably missed out on those connections if we didn't have dinner together.

We'd miss family devotions.  After dinner each  night hubby leads family devotions.  We have several different devotionals we use.  Since we have both small and older kiddo's, we like to mix it up so we are reaching each of them at some point during the week.  As Sweetcheeks is learning to read, she likes to try reading our preschool devotional.  Yes, it's very simplistic for our 16 year old {not to mention that she's heard it many times already!}, but it is something that our 4 year old understands.  We would miss these opportunities for character building and strengthening our spiritual walk if we didn't have dinner together each night.

Taking our time at the table and just enjoying each other is something I look forward to each day.  We're teaching our children that family is important as is family time together.  Unfortunately in our society, this is something that is declining as we are all in such a hurry to get to the next thing.  If family dinner's are an area your family struggles in, take small steps to get there.  Start by scheduling one night a week and work your way up.  Most of all, enjoy the time together {in our house, this also means no phone calls or electronic devices!}.  You'll be glad you did!

Blessings,

{DIY}~Super Easy Earring Holder

This has to be one of the easiest projects we have done.  Stinkerbelle had a earring tree {that was actually mine when I was younger!}, but it was no longer working for her.  She wanted something new, but something big enough to hold some of her larger earrings.

Since she has an obsession an interest in Pinterest she found some projects to create an earring holder.  But she really wanted something quick that she could do on her own, and finish right away.  I really wanted something that would be inexpensive.  So we came up with this.

We just took a sheet of plastic canvas and cut it to fit into a picture frame. She choose a double frame so she'd have more room.  Then we just glued it around the inside edges to keep it in place and Voila we were done!

We actually got both the plastic canvas and the frame from a thrift store, so the total project cost less than $1!  She gets a new earring holder, and I get something inexpensive!  We're both happy!

Blessings,